Mark Lawrenson has had a tough time fancying the Irons to win a game of football all season, notably those we have managed to beat or draw with decent opposition.
So it’s difficult to work out whether it’s good news or not when he does finally bring himself to tip us for victory as is the case this week.
It comes as no surprise of course that he is going for a 2-0 Hammers win over Cardiff City given the prevailing circumstances surrounding both clubs.
But one always approaches his website wondering whether he can bring himself to give us his three points given his all too familiar predictions of defeat.
He admits on his BBC site that we look a far stronger team these days and of course draws attention to Manu Lanzini’s emergence which beyond his brilliant capabilities, appears to have given other players a real shot in the arm.
Calling this week’s game he says: “West Ham are going very well at the moment. It helps that Manuel Lanzini is back from injury but a lot of their better players seem to have found some form.
The Hammers look good at the back too, and there seems to a be a much more settled and solid look about them now, compared with the way they started the season.
They have improved a lot, something that cannot be said about Cardiff in recent weeks.
The Bluebirds have lost their past three games, and it is the manner of those defeats that is worrying.
Cardiff boss Neil Warnock has questioned the contribution of some of his players during that run. That is a bad sign, because togetherness is usually one of the key attributes of any Warnock team.
It is a bad time of the season for things to go wrong and with games coming up against Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool in the next few weeks, Cardiff’s main aim has to be to stay in touch with the sides above them.
Their situation does not look too clever, but I am reluctant to write off their survival chances because of their manager.
Just when you think they are down and out, Warnock does seem to have a knack of getting them going again – although I do think West Ham will come out on top on Saturday.”
For once I agree with him, I think we are going to approach the game with more intensity than others where we haven’t turned up. I really hope Nasri can get some time in this game. I would like to see what a midfield of he, Lanzini, Snodgrass, Rice and Anderson could do, against a stubborn dogged Warnock team.